The Causes and Effects of Naruto Uzumaki
by hereandgone
Summary: Because Naruto Uzumaki is a being who can't leave a single person in need untouched. A short one-shot about the views of just a few of the people he changed - and a haunting question asked only by one.


**The Causes and Effects of Naruto Uzumaki**

There are few people that belong to me and me alone.

When it comes to the ones I…_tolerate_, I can easily narrow them down to three people.

The first is, I suppose, Kakashi Hatake.

He is my teacher.

The next is Sakura Haruno.

She's part of my team… and _mine_.

The last is Naruto Uzumaki.

What an idiot, always making a fool out of himself.

That dobe… He's my best friend.

.

There are lots of people that I love.

I guess the most important, not including family, of course, can be squeezed down to three people.

First of all, I guess Kakashi-sensei's pretty important, even though he's lazy and perverted.

He's my teacher, and the leader of my team.

Next is Sasuke-kun.

He's the guy I love… And he's part of team 7, no matter what.

Lastly is Naruto.

He talks too much, is _way_ too loud, and really dense.

But he's my friend… and he's the guy who can make anyone smile.

.

There are few people I love left in the world.

I guess I could narrow them down to three kids.

Sasuke Uchiha.

He's the little spoiled brat… the last Uchiha… a little like how I was as a child, I suppose… and part of my squad.

Sakura Haruno.

She's your typical teenage girl… behind when it comes to ninja strength… rather susceptible to emotions… and a strong woman; the one who holds us all together.

And lastly, Naruto Uzumaki.

He's an idiot who jumps headfirst into dangerous situations… the "Kyuubi brat"… annoying and loud… and the future Hokage of our village.

He'll probably be the best one we've ever had.

0.00.

0.00.0

The blonde kid didn't seem very promising.

All he had was a massive amount of chakra. No control, no extraordinary speed, no whatever.

It made me actually pity him for a second – after all, he was on a team with the last Uchiha and the Copycat Ninja, and I've heard that the pink-haired girl was the top of her class as well. And among this group of outstanding individuals, there was him. The dead-last, the brat, the failure. Naruto Uzumaki.

"Ah well. I suppose it's fate. Destiny just had it in for him" – that's what I thought at first.

And so, when I learned I would be facing him in the Chunin exam finals, I relaxed a little, sure that I would at least pass the first stage easily. Then again, though I was of the branch house, I _was_ a Hyuuga.

He had no chance…

But that certainly wasn't what I thought after the match.

.

He was a loudmouth and an idiot.

When we first met, I only focused my attention on his teammate, who was the last Uchiha, I learned later.

I was foolish in my choice.

Naruto Uzumaki was loud and stupid, and probably not the best of ninja.

But he was warm.

Naruto knew my pain.

He was a "demon brat" too, just like me.

But while I withdrew into a shell and truly became a monster myself…

He didn't give up, and reached out to others.

What a selfless human being.

I didn't give him much of a chance to help me.

I thought it was impossible.

I was wrong.

.

The kid was painful to look at, if you want to know the truth.

He was too emotional for a good shinobi, and his chakra control was horrible.

He was also an exact replica of the two people in my life who I truly loved.

But they both ended up dead, all due to a cursed necklace and my mistakes.

So how could I begin to love again?

I hardened my heart and ignored his bright little blue eyes staring up at me. It worked pretty well, too.

But then I watched as he took blow after blow in order to protect _me_, a mean old hag who didn't even care about her old village, one that he himself loved more than anything.

He almost died for me.

And so, what else could I do, but love him back?

.

Naruto-san struck me as a disgrace when I first saw him.

He may have distracted Zabuza-san for a moment, of course, leading to the genin squad's victory, but he himself didn't do much.

To be honest, I wasn't very interested in him. It was his teammate that drew my attention.

But I was wrong in my choice, as I later discovered.

Naruto-san was strong, and I don't necessarily mean that in the ways of the shinobi.

Naruto-san was a rare find in the ninja world – he was warm, and not like the frigid cold killing machines that other shinobi always became.

I was attracted to that warmth, I later realized.

He understood me, I was surprised to find out.

But more than that, he yelled.

He knocked some sense into me, even after watching me kill his teammate.

Naruto-san truly was an interesting being.

He helped me rest in peace, and probably helped Zabuza-san, too.

Even now, I still remember that little blonde ball of warm energy, and just before I died, all those years ago, I remember that a single thought struck me:

Even if Naruto was always helping others, (and there were many, many others….)

**Who would help _him_?**

I wish I could have played my part…

.

Naruto wasn't your typical hero.

When I first met him that day, when he caught me spying at the hot springs, "Oh boy, this is our future hero, right here" didn't exactly flash through my head as soon as I saw him.

In fact, is was more of something like, "Why the hell is this scrawny runt bothering me?"

He didn't redeem himself in my eyes very quickly, either – nothing like his father, who was a true genius.

But little by little, I saw Minato in him.

And while at first I kept comparing Naruto's faults to Minato's perfection…

I soon found myself rooting for the punk more than thinking about my former favorite student.

Because even more than the Fourth Hokage, practically _worshipped_ by all as the greatest hero they'd ever had…

Naruto deserved the title much, much more.

"Hero"…

The word doesn't do him justice.

.

I recognized the Kyuubi Jinchuriki that day in the forest, while I was racing to my inevitable death at the hands of my very own little brother.

Sasuke was strong, I knew, but he was also amazingly, utterly foolish.

So I knew that I had to leave him something to help him get back on course after my death, if my suspicions about Madara Uchiha were correct.

I knew when I saw him that Naruto Uzumaki was the perfect being to help him.

So I left Naruto a gift, of sorts, in the form of… well, he'll see soon enough.

But I knew, without even having a proper conversation with the boy, that he was the one who would break through Sasuke's utter stupidity and convey to him everything that I never could.

And, even after I left him, rushing towards my own death…

I was slightly jealous of Sasuke.

I wished that there had been someone to chase after _me_ even after my "betrayal", not stopping until they reached the truth.

I wished that there had been someone who could care about me just as Naruto-kun cared about Sasuke.

And I wondered…

What would my life have been like if Naruto Uzumaki had been born just five years earlier?

.

The dobe annoyed me way too much at first.

Always making mistakes, and always messing up.

Who _couldn't_ be annoyed at the sight of him?

I always made sure to keep my distance, always insulting him at the perfect moments.

After all, there's no way I would let myself get distracted by getting involved with a walking disgrace like _that_.

But I guess part of me was afraid that he would get too close.

I never forgot the chilling words on the wall of the underground room in the Uchiha household.

In order to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan and finally defeat that bastard Itachi, I would have to kill my best friend.

What if the dobe took that spot?

He was definitely stupid and bright enough to do it.

.

He was annoying and just another brat – that's what I thought at first.

A true idiot, and dead-last, just as the villagers always said.

But as time passed, he began to amaze me.

I know that I favored Sasuke – I know, and I don't regret it. The other two grew up well without my help. My absence helped them grow stronger.

And yet, I still feel guilty.

Nothing I can do about that, I suppose.

But Naruto was strong. I came to know this after witnessing the countless miracles he performed.

The kid was strong.

And maybe, just maybe, that twinge I feel in my heart every time I watch him fight, and every time I saw him grin at me, calling me sensei….

That slight pain in my chest might be regret.

I almost regret leaving the kid to fend for himself while I foolishly focused on an arrogant, spoiled child who would later betray the village in search of power.

I guess I'm proud of him, though.

.

Naruto was annoying.

He had horrible grades, bad taste in clothing, and was way too loud – 100% _not my style_.

I mean, Sasuke-kun was _way_ cooler than _that_ weird guy, right?

Wrong. I was such a stupid kid back then.

Obsessing over a guy who didn't care about me at all, forgetting about what actually mattered, and ignoring the one guy who was truly perfect for me.

I hurt him so bad, though I never realized it.

Constant rejection, no matter how often received, stings. And to think that I did it to _him_, of all people, who would one day become the person closest to me in the entire world.

I always fantasized about my Prince Charming, handsome and cool, always rescuing me.

But he was right in front of my face, always saving me, always caring, and yet I never realized… until it was too late.

.

Yes… it was too late.


End file.
